I am so excited to be part of the blog tour for Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. Welcome Carrie Ryan to the blog today to talk about the inspiration for her short story in this creepy collection!

My Inspiration

I was on the edge of sleep when an image popped into my head. In it, several young girls sat around a rustic table in the tree-shaded clearing of a forest. A tea party was laid out in front of them with mis-matched cups and chipped saucers. And the girls were all dead — had been for days. Except for one. She sat at the head of the table as the guest of honor. When she lifted her cup, the other girls mimicked her, their motions controlled by fishing line tied around their wrists, turning them into gruesome marionettes. The March Hare, a man-sized rabbit, watched from the trees, his tall ears a white slash against the shadows.

The tea party was his gift to the girl and she accepted it without hesitation.

This image became the inspiration for “In the Forest Dark and Deep,” my short story for the Slasher Girls and Monster Boys anthology. I wanted to know what kind of child would come to this clearing day after day while her dead friends’ bodies grew bloated in the heat (I once worked for the Coroner’s Office and have first hand experience with rotting bodies; I knew well what they would look and smell like). I wanted to know what happened to her as she grew older.

But most of all, I wanted to learn more about the March Hare — a creature the size of a man, with the proportions of a man, yet still somehow not a man but a white rabbit with ears that stood out against the darkness. I wanted to know what his relationship was with the girl — what tied them together. And the only way for me to figure that out was to write the story and see where it took me.

“In the Forest Dark and Deep,” is perhaps one of my favorites stories because its origin is rooted in such a disturbing and gruesome scene that’s complicated by the deep undercurrent of connection between the girl and the March Hare. It’s a story about friendship and understanding, monsters and darkness, and whether the two are irrevocably intertwined.

– Carrie Ryan

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann
Leigh Bardugo
Kendare Blake
A. G. Howard
Jay Kristoff
Marie Lu
Jonathan Maberry
Danielle Paige
Carrie Ryan
Megan Shepherd
Nova Ren Suma
McCormick Templeman
April Genevieve Tucholke
Cat Winters

Order your copy now!
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